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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: lean · season · scale · chest · cold · object · saw · dip

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. saw — the tool
  4. scale — in music
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. object — an aim
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. saw — the tool
  9. object — a thing
  10. scale — size or range
  11. season — of the year
  12. lean — to bend
  13. cold — an illness
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. object — to protest
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cold — not warm
  18. dip — to sink
  19. season — in sport
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. chest — of your body
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. chest — a box

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com